October 6, 2015 [OPIS] - Operations at most Northeast oil refineries and in the fuel logistics supply chain did not skip a beat over the weekend despite the stormy conditions, industry sources told OPIS on Monday.
Hurricane Joaquin veered east away from land last weekend as projected, but it did bring heavy rain to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
The biggest impact of the hurricane on oil logistics is in the Caribbean, with BORCO oil storage terminal remaining closed to ship loading and unloading operations as of Monday. Shipping activities in the Bahamas have been suspended since Thursday afternoon, and normal operations may resume on Tuesday.
The BORCO terminal is a strategic storage hub in the Caribbean, allowing oil companies to break-bulk or build-bulk for crude and oil products trading activities.
The shipping stoppage at BORCO is expected to slow oil products delivery to Florida as well as delay oil products exports. However, it is noted Florida also receives fuel supplies from the Gulf Coast and Europe, and inventories of gasoline and distillates in the lower Atlantic are on par with last year or higher.
Last Friday, Mid-Atlantic rack fuel suppliers and retailers prepared for the stormy impact of Hurricane Joaquin by increasing inventories.
Northeast oil refineries are not expected to cut crude runs due to no significant delay to imported crude deliveries. Northeast refiners have ramped up foreign crude imports for October, following a narrower Brent-WTI crude spread in September.
